Walk-off bucket wins Final Four

In a thrilling game that came down to the final shot, the Minnesota State women’s basketball team earned a trip to the Division II national title game Wednesday by beating Cal St. San Marcos 70-68.

With just seconds remaining, Emily Herzberg sunk a layup with .03 seconds remaining that sealed the win in a game that saw a dozen lead changes.

With the win, the Mavs advance to the title game Friday against Texas Women’s.

“We’ve ran that play a million times in practice and I was the open cutter and Nat (Bremer) did a great job of getting it to me,” Herzberg said in her post game interview on the court. 

Cal St. San Marcos’ Truitt Reilly got the opening score of the game with a jump shot on the Cougars’ first possession of the game. The Mavs tied things up with their first possession after a pair of Herzberg free throws. 

Following both teams trading points in the first two possessions of the game, the Mavs proceeded to go on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes of the opening quarter. 

Tha Mavs forced the Cougars to commit six turnovers during that stretch. Joey Batt, Destinee Bursch and Natalie Bremer all saw their first points of the game come during this early surge by the Mavericks. 

With 4:05 left in the first quarter, Cal St. San Marcos’ Ava Ranson knocked down a three-pointer to get the Cougars back on track and cut MSU’s lead to 15-7. A shot by CSUSM’s Charity Gallegos made the score 17-11 before two Batt free throws got the Mavs’ lead back to eight points.

The Cougars roared back in the last two minutes of the quarter with a 7-0 run and the Mavs led 19-18 at the end of one. 

A shot by Bremer got the scoring started in the second quarter. CSUSM’s Jordan Vasquez quickly responded with a layup to keep the Mavs’ lead to just one. 

At the 6:57 mark of the second quarter, the Cougars tied the game at 23 a piece. Back to back buckets by Bremer got the Mavs’ lead back up to four and the score was 27-23. The Cougars cut MSU’s lead to two with under a minute to go in the half, but Herzberg answered with two points to give the Mavs a 34-30 lead at the half. 

In the first half, MSU made 12 of 32 of their field goals, shot one for seven from three-point range and made nine of their 11 free throw attempts. They also forced the Cougars to commit 15 turnovers. 

Bremer led the team in scoring over the first two quarters with 14 points on seven of 14 field goals made. 

A jumper by Batt and three-pointer by Bremer helped extend the Mavs’ lead to 41-34 a couple of minutes into the second half. Over the next several minutes of the third quarter, the Cougars kept the Mavs from getting a real grip on the game and made sure to keep their deficit to no more than four points. 

With 2:37 left in the third, the Cougars clawed their way into their first lead since the opening minute of the game and the score was 46-45. They held onto the lead for the remainder of the quarter, and the game went into its final chapter with the Cougars up 53-51. 

CSUSM’s Reilly made a layup in the first eight seconds of the fourth to extend the Cougars’ lead to four. Bremer made sure to not let the Cougars get too far ahead and responded with a three-point play to cut CSUSM’s lead back to one. About a minute later, a free throw by Batt put the Mavs back in front at 56-55. 

After MSU extended their lead due to a Bremer layup, the Cougars went on a quick 6-0 run and regained a three-point lead. 

This nip and tuck game with a National Championship appearance on the line went down to the wire. 

The game was tied up at 65 with 2:07 left in the game before CSUSM’s Mina Tameilau knocked down a free throw to put the Cougars up one. 

The next two minutes of basketball saw Bremer make a jumper and the Mavs miss four free throws to set up a 68-68 game with five seconds to go. 

Off the back of a timeout, MSU inbounded the ball to Bremer, who set up Herzberg with the game-winning layup with 0.3 second to go. 

The Mavs would make a defensive stand on CSUSM’s final possession and clinched their spot in the National Championship game. 

Bremer led both teams in scoring by finishing the game with 29 points and nine rebounds. 

After missing two free throws down the stretch, Herzberg was able to redeem herself by sending the Mavs to the title game. 

The NCAA Division II Championship will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri. 

Header Photo:

In a thrilling game that came down to the final shot, the Minnesota State women’s basketball team earned a trip to the Division II national title game Wednesday by beating Cal St. San Marcos 70-68.

With just seconds remaining, Emily Herzberg sunk a layup with .03 seconds remaining that sealed the win in a game that saw a dozen lead changes.

With the win, the Mavs advance to the title game Friday against Texas Women’s.

“We’ve ran that play a million times in practice and I was the open cutter and Nat (Bremer) did a great job of getting it to me,” Herzberg said in her post game interview on the court. 

Cal St. San Marcos’ Truitt Reilly got the opening score of the game with a jump shot on the Cougars’ first possession of the game. The Mavs tied things up with their first possession after a pair of Herzberg free throws. 

Following both teams trading points in the first two possessions of the game, the Mavs proceeded to go on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes of the opening quarter. 

Tha Mavs forced the Cougars to commit six turnovers during that stretch. Joey Batt, Destinee Bursch and Natalie Bremer all saw their first points of the game come during this early surge by the Mavericks. 

With 4:05 left in the first quarter, Cal St. San Marcos’ Ava Ranson knocked down a three-pointer to get the Cougars back on track and cut MSU’s lead to 15-7. A shot by CSUSM’s Charity Gallegos made the score 17-11 before two Batt free throws got the Mavs’ lead back to eight points.

The Cougars roared back in the last two minutes of the quarter with a 7-0 run and the Mavs led 19-18 at the end of one. 

A shot by Bremer got the scoring started in the second quarter. CSUSM’s Jordan Vasquez quickly responded with a layup to keep the Mavs’ lead to just one. 

At the 6:57 mark of the second quarter, the Cougars tied the game at 23 a piece. Back to back buckets by Bremer got the Mavs’ lead back up to four and the score was 27-23. The Cougars cut MSU’s lead to two with under a minute to go in the half, but Herzberg answered with two points to give the Mavs a 34-30 lead at the half. 

In the first half, MSU made 12 of 32 of their field goals, shot one for seven from three-point range and made nine of their 11 free throw attempts. They also forced the Cougars to commit 15 turnovers. 

Bremer led the team in scoring over the first two quarters with 14 points on seven of 14 field goals made. 

A jumper by Batt and three-pointer by Bremer helped extend the Mavs’ lead to 41-34 a couple of minutes into the second half. Over the next several minutes of the third quarter, the Cougars kept the Mavs from getting a real grip on the game and made sure to keep their deficit to no more than four points. 

With 2:37 left in the third, the Cougars clawed their way into their first lead since the opening minute of the game and the score was 46-45. They held onto the lead for the remainder of the quarter, and the game went into its final chapter with the Cougars up 53-51. 

CSUSM’s Reilly made a layup in the first eight seconds of the fourth to extend the Cougars’ lead to four. Bremer made sure to not let the Cougars get too far ahead and responded with a three-point play to cut CSUSM’s lead back to one. About a minute later, a free throw by Batt put the Mavs back in front at 56-55. 

After MSU extended their lead due to a Bremer layup, the Cougars went on a quick 6-0 run and regained a three-point lead. 

This nip and tuck game with a National Championship appearance on the line went down to the wire. 

The game was tied up at 65 with 2:07 left in the game before CSUSM’s Mina Tameilau knocked down a free throw to put the Cougars up one. 

The next two minutes of basketball saw Bremer make a jumper and the Mavs miss four free throws to set up a 68-68 game with five seconds to go. 

Off the back of a timeout, MSU inbounded the ball to Bremer, who set up Herzberg with the game-winning layup with 0.3 second to go. 

The Mavs would make a defensive stand on CSUSM’s final possession and clinched their spot in the National Championship game. 

Bremer led both teams in scoring by finishing the game with 29 points and nine rebounds. 

After missing two free throws down the stretch, Herzberg was able to redeem herself by sending the Mavs to the title game. 

The NCAA Division II Championship will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Header Photo: The NCAA Division II Championship will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri. It is the Mavs’ first National Championship appearance since the 2008-09 season. (Courtesy Maverick Athletics)

Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu